Mobile Travel Site Helps B2B Side With Personalized B2C Touch

Zipkick, a startup mobile travel search and booking site, is offering a new twist on how to run a company that’s both B2B and B2C by using its personalized B2C algorithm to appeal to its B2B customer base.

TNOOZ took a look into the company, which is currently testing its patent-pending algorithm to help both sides of the business. The report discusses the revenue model, profit strategy and looks into the logistics of how having a B2B and B2C company better positions Zipkick to offer a platform for businesses while still having an opportunity to connect with consumers.

“Zipkick operates as a B2B and B2C company. …The B2B licensing operates on a per search licensing cost and B2C generates revenue when travelers book,” Zipkick wrote in an interview with TNOOZ. The company was entirely self-funded from co-founders Jason Will and Josh Rasmussen.

So what’s in it for the B2B side? Clutter removal and better connected customers, Zipkick said. This makes is so the businesses who license their travel options through Zipkick can be found easier, thanks to their algorithm that employs a Netflix-style user recommendation that tailors searches based on preference. The end goal of the company is to have it acquired by a company with strong search functions under its belt, like Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Yahoo.

“Zipkick is the result of countless failed attempts at booking travel on the go,” which was founded by a former traveling consultant, the report said. “Searching for travel via a mobile phone was cumbersome and sifting through an overwhelming amount of results only complicated the process. After realizing the lack of mobile innovation this past decade in travel, it was time to step up and personalize search.”

That’s where the consumer side of the business comes to play. The business is able to connect listings through the travel site and consumers are able to find those listings quicker.

“It aims to remove the clutter of irrelevant search results and let users find what matters to them without scroll bars, radio buttons or searching thousands of different options. Its proprietary platform allows for users to input and rank their preferences, which are then stored within the profile. These preferences are then used as the search parameters, returning relevant results only,” the company reported.

By eliminating scroll bars, sorting features and boxes to check, the experience is quicker for the consumer and the personalized algorithm tailors searches to the consumer and doesn’t require entering extra fields every time the user goes on the site. That’s the main problem the startup aims to address.

“By only showing the most personalized results for each traveller, irrelevant and duplicative options are completely eliminated,” Zipkick said in the interview. “As a result, people save a significant amount of time and have a simple and repeatable process that is uniform across all devices.”

So what makes Zipkick different than its competitors? The algorithm. This has also helped merge its B2B efforts with the B2C side of the company.

“We believe our algorithm has the ability to power several large travel providers, which will account for the majority of our company’s growth. The cost to acquire B2C users has posed a challenge for existing travel companies and we will not be an exception to that. Therefore, our focus will be on growing our licensing business and continue to organically scale our consumer facing product,” Zipkick said.

According to TNOOZ’s take on the future of the startup, the algorithm development should be reason alone to believe the company can succeed.

“Any tech innovation which is patent-pending has the potential to be a success, and Zipkick seems to be placing a lot of importance on the algorithm it has developed,” author Martin Cowen wrote. “By identifying different business models for B2B and B2C it is acknowledging that its long-term future might be more backstage than front-of-house.”